National Taiwan University Hospital has launched mass COVID testing on thousands of staff members after 10 employees tested positive for the disease. The hospital says the 10 positive cases were all non-medical staff who''d had no contact with hospital patients. As a precaution, the hospital has stopped admitting new patients and performing non-essential operations.
It’s lunchtime and medical staff are out to pick up their meal delivery. Members of the public walk in and out. It looks like a perfectly ordinary day. But inside NTU Hospital, some staff have tested positive for COVID.
Wang Tyng-guey
NTU Hospital vice superintendent
On May 18, yesterday morning, a colleague from the engineering and maintenance office - who is in charge of repairs and is not medical staff - was found to have developed a fever. He was administered a test and it came back positive. After hearing of the situation, we immediately gathered his colleagues in the office and his close contacts to screen them for COVID. Unfortunately, of the 36 contacts, 10 were positive for the disease.
NTU Hospital held an online press conference chaired by its vice superintendent. He addressed concerns on whether the recent infections had originated in the hospital.
Wang Tyng-guey
NTU Hospital vice superintendent
Basically, most of them were in the same office area, so we believe the 10 people infected one another. Clinically speaking, this doesn’t constitute a hospital-acquired infection, which involve inpatients. Only when there are infected inpatients, can we can say it’s a hospital-acquired infection.
The vice superintendent stressed that the cluster infection had not originated from within the hospital. He said that there had been no contact between the infected staff and hospital patients. NTU Hospital has since launched a thorough disinfection of its premises, while tests are being administered to staff. The hospital says it hopes to have everyone tested within 48 hours.
Wang Tyng-guey
NTU Hospital vice superintendent
There are around 8,000 employees at NTU Hospital, some of whom work under a three-shift scheme. We will administer around 6,000 or 7,000 tests. We’ll be fast in testing everyone.
They’re the picture of calm, even in an outbreak. NTU Hospital will stop performing non-urgent operations and admitting new inpatients. It’s also scaling back its outpatient services. COVID patients with mild symptoms will be sent to other hospitals for treatment to prevent any further infections in the hospital.
